Can you persuade me to change my mind?

Question

I am hard core anti illegal-anti amnesty, always have been. I believe it's a current threat to our country and our future as well to allow them to stay. Can you offer anything that might change my mind? Are you up to the challenge of changeing my mind? Help me see things your way, currently I do not understand why anyone would support this illegal movement.

Answer 1

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: NO Border, NO Order, NO Nation

> Taxes: Mass immigration costs taxpayers some $87 billion each year. Giving amnesty would nearly triple the already massive federal deficit.

> Schools: Taxpayers fork over some $7 billion each year so illegal alien students can attend public schools.

> Social Security: New proposals to pay retirement benefits to Mexican citizens who worked illegally in the U.S. could cost the cash-strapped Social
Security system as much as $345 billion - money that SHOULD be used to pay the benefits WE have been promised.

> Language Barriers: According to one economist, poor English skills among foreign-born residents cost more than $75 billion a year in lost
productivity, wages, tax revenue and unemployment compensation.

> The Job Market: An estimated 1.8 million American workers are displaced from their jobs every year by mass immigration. Because mass
immigration drives down wages, U.S. workers lose an estimated $133 billion a year as a result of open borders.

> Health Care: Mass immigration costs Medicare and Medicaid a whopping $20 billion each year, while federally mandated health care for illegal aliens
cost U.S. taxpayers as much as $2 billion annually.

> Welfare: Mass immigration is producing a subculture of government dependents that are nearly twice as likely to be on welfare. Benefits for recent
immigrants cost taxpayers an estimated $75 billion each year.

> $ Exported: Mexicans living & working in U.S., sent $12.4 billion to their homeland in the first 9 months of 2004, according to the Bank of Mexico.

> Net Cost: Between 1997 & 2006, the projected total net cost to taxpayers for immigration will be $866 billion.

> Influx: Immigration from 1925-1965 averaged 178,000 per year. As of 2003, we’re taking in approximately 1.1 million legal immigrants & up to 700,000
illegal aliens annually. In 2004, the Border Patrol estimates that 3 million illegal aliens entered the U.S.

> Population: Currently, we have 294 million people, but because of today’s mass immigration, 420 million is projected by 2050.

> Crime: The cost of locking up illegal aliens in CA alone is $1.4 billion a year. These are hard core criminal convicted of gang-related crimes, murder,
robbery, drug-trafficking and sex offenses. These undesirable criminal aliens blend in with illegal day laborers and others violating our borders.


1st Qtr INS/FBI Statistical Report on Illegal Immigration.

Work Paid Under the Table - No Taxes
> 62% of all "undocumented immigrants" (illegal aliens) in the United States are working for cash and not paying taxes;
> Those working illegal aliens who are paying taxes are doing so by use of stolen social security numbers, a felony.

Crime
> 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens;
> 83% of warrants for murder in Phoenix are for illegal aliens;
> 86% of warrants for murder in Albuquerque are for illegal aliens;
> 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Albuquerque are illegal aliens;
> 24.9% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally;
> 40.1% of all inmates in Arizona detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally;
> 48.2% of all inmates in New Mexico detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally;
> 29% (630,000) convicted illegal alien felons fill our state and federal prisons at a cost of $1.6 billion annually;
> More than 53% of all investigated burglaries reported in California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and Texas are perpetrated by illegal aliens;
> More than half of all gang members in Los Angeles are illegal aliens from south of the border;

Car Thefts/ Traffic Violations
> More than 71% of all apprehended cars stolen in 2005 in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California were stolen by illegal aliens or transport coyotes";
> 47% of cited/stopped drivers in California have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 47%, 92% are illegal aliens;
> 63% of cited/stopped drivers in Arizona have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 63%, 97% are illegal aliens;
> 66% of cited/stopped drivers in New Mexico have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 66%, 98% are illegal aliens;

The Cost of Health Benefits
> More than 380,000 "anchor babies" were born in the United States in 2005 were to parents who are illegal aliens; making those 380,000 babies automatically U.S. citizens. 97.2% of all costs concurred from those births were paid by the American taxpayer;
> More than 66% of all births in California are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers;

The Cost of Welfare
> More than 43% of all Food Stamps issued are to illegal aliens;
> More than 41% of all unemployment checks issued in the United States are to illegal aliens;
> 58% of all Welfare payments in the United States are issued to illegal aliens;
> Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties in the United States are illegal aliens;
> More than 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages.
> Less than 2% of illegal aliens in the United States are picking crops , but 41% are on welfare;


The Cost of Education
> More than 34% of Arizona students in grades 1-12 are illegal aliens;
> More than 24% of Arizona students in grades 1-12 are non-English-speaking;
> More than 39% of California students in grades 1-12 are illegal aliens;
More than 42% of California students in grades 1-12 are non-English-speaking. In Los Angeles County, 5.1 million people speak English. 3.9 million speak Spanish;


Costs to American Tax Payers
> The cost of immigration to the American taxpayer in 1997 was a NET (after subtracting taxes immigrants pay) $70 BILLION a year, [Professor Donald Huddle, Rice University];
> The lifetime fiscal impact (taxes paid minus services used) for the average adult Mexican ILLEGAL alien is $55,000.00 cost to the American taxpayer in a 5-year

Answer 2

I'm a Hispanic person (Colombia) by descent ... I was born and raised in NY ... and honestly, I agree with you. While, it kills me to see all these people hungry and trying to make a decent living, it's also slowing our progress here in the USA. Keeps several people out of work and it's sad to see a fellow American fall to a person not legally here. In a sense we as a country are very strong, but, not enough so that we can take people from any part of the world to come in and "screw" over people that do belong here. This country has given so much to me and family and I love it so much, all this was done in a legal manner by my grandparents to come here. So really I can't change your mind, all I can do, is back up your thoughts. Although it does kill me to see people struggle (illegals), it's even more sad when the insiders struggle in their own country.

Answer 3

Im a minuteman so you are on the right side of this issue. Some may try to call you racist but notice you did not mention a race. The only ones making it a race issue are those who support the illegal invasion of our country so therefore they are the racist.

Answer 4

warriorbabe, you've been on here long enough to have heard the arguments that can be offered in this simple forum. i want to encourage you to look beyond the five line rant/response of yahoo answers to some real debate taking place:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5310549

yes, it's public radio, aka "the liberal media", but if you want some carefully considered and well informed opinions about illegal immigration that give you the pro side, that's a good place to start.

scottfreefunny, none of these responses uses the word "racist", so why did you bring that in to this?

huh. interesting that all i did was suggest a place to look for informed opinions from the pro- side, and i get bombarded with "thumbs downs" (like i care). if you read warriorbabe's profile you'll see that she "loves savage!", so if she's looking to hear ideas that will show her what the other side thinks, another radio program would be a good place to start. what's so offensive about that suggestion?

Answer 5

I answered your first question regarding your semantics of those who "support this illegal movement."

Why do I get the feeling that this is a game to you? I have absolutely no desire in changing your mind. I understand the realities of what Congress will have to deliver.

I maintain that the anti-illegal camp of this forum is in for a rude awakening on the reality of the issues. For Congress and those of us in the midst of it, it is not about "mexicans smell bad, and they play loud music; they drain our services; etc. etc. etc." It's about economics and politics as usual. You cannot understand something you know nothing about except what the media shows you.

Answer 6

Im against it too, but ill try.
Well, the worst threat to our economy is shiiping jobs overseas. If we have a source of cheap labor here, it will ensure manufacturing jobs, ensure a need for services, and so forth.

Answer 7

I don't think they can. They are putting others in front of those here. And yes they are affected. Hurt to help makes no sense in my book. Be different if it was a true emergency. So far I don't see anything that would change my mind.

Answer 8

I don't want to change your mind, I agree with you completely

Answer 9

If a person goes through LEGAL channels to get into this country then I welcome them. If they sneak in and take advantage of social systems that I have to pay taxes for... see ya!

Answer 10

Well all the logical and reasonable arguments belong to the anti-illegal side, so the only arguments that could convert you would be illogical and unreasonable. Obviously you believe in reaon and logic, so it would be impossible to sway your opinion.

Answer 11

I really can't change your mind as you echo my own.